Friday, April 15

Cosima was on my long list when we named Ottilie, but made it to my top 3 right around the time I got pregnant. The other 2 I liked were Vera and Sibyl, but my husband wasn't crazy about either of them. Some others we considered were Delphi, Lavinia, Leto, Neva, Sabine, Saskia, Ursula and Veda.They were both only so-so on Cosima at first, but they loved the potential nickname Cosy. I kept pressing it and eventually, by the time I was around 18 weeks pregnant, they came around. Kindred is the middle name of writer Philip K. Dick. We continued a subtle theme, since Ottilie's middle name, Valentine, is writer Henry Miller's middle name. Plus, Kindred and Valentine have slightly complementary meanings, which I love.

The naming process this time around was easier and harder than last time. Harder because I had to contend with not just 1, but 2 other peoples' opinions, and easier because the restrictions (how it worked in the sibling set, the middle name being decided) helped narrow the list before we even started looking.We've gotten some nice reactions to her name so far -- nicer in general than we usually get when people learn Ottilie's name. I wondered if we would get "like Orphan Black?" but so far nobody has mentioned it. I still get a thrill every time I introduce her.